Amitabha Mazumder, MD, is an attending physician in Medical Oncology at St. Vincent's Comprehensive Cancer Center (SVCCC) in New York City. Dr. Mazumder, a board-certified oncologist, has practiced at SVCCC since 2003, specializing in bone marrow and blood stem cell transplantation.
He also is a professor of medicine at New York Medical College, an adjunct Professor of Medicine at NYU school of medicine, and is a member of multiple professional societies such as Phi Beta Kappa, American Society of Clinical Oncology, American Society of Hematology and American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Dr. Mazumder has been featured annually in Who's Who in Medicine since 1991 and in Who's Who in Frontiers of Science and Technology since 1985. He is published in numerous medical journals, including Blood, Cancer, Journal of Hematotherapy, Pediatric Research, Journal of Immunotherapy and Bone Marrow Transplant.
Dr. Mazumder graduated from Johns Hopkins Medical School, Baltimore, Maryland and completed his internship and residency in internal medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Medical Center, Houston, Texas. Dr. Muzumder has been director of transplant at Georgetown, USC and Stony Brook. He received a research fellowship in immunology from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in 1980, while also serving as a clinical associate in hematology and medical oncology at the NCI. Dr. Mazumder received his undergraduate degree from Johns Hopkins University.
Q&A with Amitabha Mazumder, MD, Multiple Myeloma Specialist
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- Q: What is your approach to myeloma treatment?
A: Unfortunately, myeloma is currently an incurable disease. In the younger patients, we try to reduce the disease as rapidly as possible, and then have them undergo stem cell transplantation, so they can enjoy a long-term, disease-free survival. Older patients typically aren't able to undergo transplantation, so instead, we place them on a therapy that's gentle enough to allow them to have a good quality of life while keeping the disease under control
- Q: How do patients benefit from coming to SVCCC for treatment?
A: The number one benefit is that we have a group of experts, Dr. Chari, Dr. Jagannath, and myself, who are specially trained in diagnostics and treating multiple myeloma, in addition to expertise in diagnosing and nursing. We have a state-of-the-art lab and radiology facility right here in the center. All of us—oncologists, pathologists, radiologists, nurse practitioners and support staff—work very closely, creating a more integrated approach to care. Because of all this expertise, we are able to offer our patients the latest treatment protocols and the opportunity to participate in clinical trials.
- Q: What are your thoughts on the future of myeloma research?
A: There are three major areas that are now being investigated. First, as we start to know more about the myeloma tumor itself, the genetics of it, we are able to design drugs that are much more targeted to the specific genetic problems that are present in the myeloma tumor.
Secondly, research has shown us that the myeloma tumor sits in a neighborhood, such as the bone marrow, that is uniquely hospitable to the tumor. Consequently, we're now looking at ways in which we can disrupt the neighborhood so the bad guys (myeloma cells) will move out. This is a whole new way of looking at cancer—focusing not just on the tumor, but also the environment in which it resides.
The third major area of research involves looking closely at quality of life versus the benefits of treatment. From our perspective, we don't necessarily have to get a complete response in myeloma treatment, we might get a stable disease, which is okay, as long as the patient is doing well. With this approach, unless a myeloma patient is symptomatic, we'll hold off on treatment to maximize the patient's quality of life for as long as possible.
